Psychological explanations: Cognitive distortions Pt2

Question 1

A01

What are cognitive distortions?

Answer 1

Cognitive distortions are errors or biases in peoples information processing system characterised by faulty thinking
Researchers has linked this to the way in which criminals interpret other peoples behaviours & justify their own actions
For example, “I only hit them because they gave me a dirty look.’

Question 2

What are two examples of cognitive distortions?

Answer 2

• Hostile attribution bias
• Minimalisation

Question 3

Hostile attribution Bias

Answer 3

Hostile attribution bias is when a person mininterpret the actions of other people like assuming others are being confrontational when they are not
Offenders may misread non aggressive cues ( such as being looked at) & may trigger a dispropriate violent response

Question 4

What is minimalisation?

Answer 4

Minimalisation is when a offender denies or downplays the seriousness of an offence-to prevent negative emotions-guilt
Bandura (1973) calls this ‘Euphemistic labelling’ which is when a person uses less severe language to remove from their moral engagement from an action
For example, to say that burglars are just “doing a job” or “supporting their family” or
Fraudsters may claim “it wasn’t that much money compared to the company’s worth”

Question 5

A03

Cognitive distortions lacks predictive validity

Limitation

Answer 5

Cognitive theories have been criticised for its usefulness in predicting future offending behaviour
Whilst they are good at describing the thinking processes of distorted thinking, this doesn’t necessarily mean that distorted thinking will lead to offending behaviour
Because of this, the theory lacks predictive validity

Question 6

A03

Research support -Harkins et al. (2010) suggest that during therapy, if an offender can reduce the level of denial & minimalisation, this will lead to a reduced risk of offending

Strength

Answer 6

Harkins et al. (2010) suggest that during therapy, if an offender can reduce the level of denial & minimalisation, this will lead to a reduced risk of offending
This gives the cognitive distortions theory good external validity, as it can be applied to real-life settings (i.e., in therapy)

Question 7

for hostile attribution bias

Answer 7

Schonenberg and Justye studied 55 violent offenders who were presented with images of emotionally ambiguous facial expressions
When compared with a control group, offenders were more likely than non-violent participants to perceive the images as angry/hostile, suggesting that hostile attribution bias can explain angry/hostile responses in offenders